


Take this flower

by jeongshook



Series: IT One shots [6]
Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Flower Language AU, Friends to Lovers, M/M, brief mention of the other losers, i just need to get as far from canon as possible sometimes okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 18:10:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19067923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeongshook/pseuds/jeongshook
Summary: After graduating from high school, Mike Hanlon starts receiving flowers he thought only he knew the meanings of.





	Take this flower

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the IT 2 Fic Exchange on tumblr! I just wanted to write a fluffy fluffy stanlon fic uwu
> 
> Feel free to point out any mistakes, since English is not my first language lol.
> 
>  
> 
> [read this on tumblr](http://kkaspbrak.tumblr.com/post/185319876796/take-this-flower)

Voices of a couple hundred students can be heard from outside, the shut bathroom window filtering the noise to a background hum. Only the stall on the far right is occupied, the only one where you can actually shut the door without holding on to it. The boy inside is sitting with his feet propped up against the door, book in hand; hiding. He is just about to finish a chapter when the door swings open and bangs against the wall, loud footsteps marching into the boys’ bathroom.

“Mike Hanlon, are you in here?” an all too familiar voice bellows, followed by a laugh.

“Damn it!” Mike’s book smashes into the tile floor. “Scream a little louder will ya, I don’t think the principal outside heard you,” he says. Some days he is still startled by the volume his friend is capable of reaching. There are no signs of damage on his book, thank God, because if there were he would honestly think about choking Richie Tozier.

He pushes the door open to reveal said friend, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.

“Were you taking a dump?”

“No you idiot, I needed some peace and quiet, and to be away from you” he answers without missing a beat. That’s not really the case but Richie doesn’t need to know that. Thankfully, he leaves the topic alone, punching Mike in the shoulder instead.

“Alright, ready to graduate?”

A deep sigh leaves him as they turn to the door. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

*

In fact, graduating is not the problem. No, the problem itself is that however fast and strong Mike gets, Henry Bowers will always be faster and stronger, due to the fact that Henry is a psychopath and doesn’t hold back once he gets a hold of you. He’s been after Mike for weeks now and Mike… he doesn’t want a problem. He doesn’t want to have a confrontation – that’s why he bolted to the bathroom once he caught sight of Henry on the bleachers.

“He shouldn’t even be here,” Bill comments once they take their spots in the school gym, glaring at Henry from the corner of his eye. “He doesn’t go here anymore.”

Mike hangs his head. “He’ll never leave me alone.”

Richie plops down next to them, adjusting his glasses with a grin. “It’s okay, there’s seven of us and only one of him. I wonder where those dumb friends of him went.”

“Let’s get this over with and not talk about them, okay?” Stan interrupts. He squeezes Mike’s arm with a reassuring smile. “He won’t even get close to you. We’ll meet you at yours tonight and forget about all of this, okay?”

Mike looks up at him and hopes the adoration in his eyes can be mistaken for gratefulness. Stanley looks handsome today, even more so than he normally does, now that he’s all dressed up. 

“Okay,” Mike agrees, feeling his cheeks heat up under Stan’s gaze. The hint of a smile creeps onto his face at the sight of all his friends. He’s grateful to have them.

*

“Dude, what’s up with all the flowers?” is the first thing Richie booms when they arrive at Mike’s place for the first time in, well, years. They usually hang out at Bill’s or Ben’s, since their parents are… normal. As in, more normal than all the others’ folks. It’s been standard for years now that if they’re not out anywhere they can be found at either Ben’s or Bill’s - however, the Hanlon’s property is pretty big and is great for starting a campfire and sleeping in tents.

Mike feels himself blushing, but answers honestly. “I like flowers.”

As they’re setting up the tents, Richie is still going on about them, as if it’s weird that he has so many but Mike… well, he really does like flowers. Should he be ashamed?

It hasn’t always been this way at all, by the way. When he found lilies growing in the yard he didn’t think anything of them but there were more and more of them every time he walked by, so he started tending to them. Before he knew it, he was buying all kinds of different flower seeds on the market and planting them, watering them every day, watching them grow into beautiful, colorful flowers.

He likes that each of them is unique and he likes that they all have different meanings to them. They have a language entirely of their own which is fascinating to Mike. He remembers spending night after night buried in his (well, his late mother’s) book learning about the things each flower represents and feeling like he has a special bond to them. They’re little, and maybe they’re just flowers, but they’re important to him.

Stan steps beside him when he finishes up with one of the tents. “I like the flowers. They’re very pretty.”

At that moment, Mike’s heart feels almost as soft as Stanley’s voice.

“The carnations,” he points to them. “They’re my favorite.”

“You have them in pretty much every color, don’t you?” Beverly calls from behind them. Her hair is getting longer again. It’s pretty.

“Striped ones, even,” Stanley answers. His hair is also getting quite long. It’s even prettier than Beverly’s.

Mike steps forward and picks two of the carnations - he hands a white one to Beverly and a red one to Stanley.

“Thanks for not making fun of them,” he says, smiling.

Beverly gazes at the flowers, and the knowing look in her eyes is more comforting than anything else.

 

*

Red carnations may be Mike’s favorite flower, but he has a lot more which remind him of his friends.

The irises remind him of Bill and the friendship they have - it’s a unique bond he doesn’t share with any of the other losers.

In his head, he associates the yellow roses with Ben’s always cheerful face. The boy is too nice for his own good; an honest friend.

Richie is a dandelion as he is - always happy. Always faithful.

The most fitting flower for Beverly is amaryllis. She is the most beautiful woman Mike has ever seen, and even if he’s not attracted to women, he can still appreciate beauty.

When Mike thinks of Eddie, he thinks of an aster flower, patient if needed, caring and sensitive. Elegant, even, if he needs to be.

And Stan is… well. Stan is a red carnation. He used to be something else, something that Mike can’t even remember anymore, ever since he admitted to himself that the feelings he gets when he looks at Stanley are not purely affection, not a crush, but something more.

Something deeper.

He won’t lie, it does hurt sometimes to know that Stanley will never return his feelings. Sometimes he takes all of the withered flowers from the yard and mourns a love that never bloomed.

*

When he finds pink camellias in his mailbox a week or so later, he doesn’t know what to make of it. The summer Sun is beating down on him, beads of sweat forming on his temples, and he can’t remember if he put those flowers there or if they’re there by accident. There is no card or anything, just the flowers, tied together with an ordinary piece of yarn.

Maybe they weren’t meant for him. Surely they weren’t.

He still puts them in water and takes care of them until they wither away because they’re pretty and they’re flowers and they deserve to be appreciated like any other.

Over the next couple of weeks, Mike receives various kinds of flowers in his mailbox. A single lavender rose which makes his heart beat faster. He knows what it means and maybe that’s why he refuses to believe it was intended for him; still, whenever he catches sight of it he can’t help but think about what-ifs and could-it-bes.

A couple of yellow tulips that shouldn’t even be blooming this month, as far as Mike knows. He has no idea where this mystery person could have gotten them from. They’re as delicate as they are cheerful. Mike cherishes them as long as he can.

Then one time, just after his friends leave after spending a day in the Sun, he discovers sweet pea flowers tucked away in the mailbox - there is a piece of paper attached this time.

“Open your heart and I shall open mine.” It reads.

Mike shakes his head in confusion. Who could it be from? Does he have a secret admirer? Is it someone from school?

Or maybe Richie is messing with him since he found the flowers so funny in the first place.

He takes the flowers up to his room, puts them in water as he always does. As he goes over the single sentence on the card again, he realizes there is something on the other side as well.

An address; one that Mike knows well. It’s a café he frequents in Derry, normally when he is studying or is out with the losers. And something else:

Meet me here at 1 PM on Tuesday?

Mike’s heart starts beating faster. For the first time since he started receiving the flowers, he thinks of Henry Bowers. Could he be behind all of this? Mike wouldn’t put it past Henry to observe him and use his interests against him. Could it be that Henry planned this so he can humiliate Mike?

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a wise choice to show up – just in case it does turn out to be a prank.

Still, he decides to go.

*

The café is pretty busy for a Tuesday, but considering that it is the summer it is understandable that so many locals would indulge in an iced coffee or a slice of cheesecake. As Mike steps inside, his eyes scan the tables – there is no one he knows, save for the old ladies in the corner who work in the library. He doubts they are the ones who asked to meet him here.

He looks up at the clock – it is 12:54. Maybe he has a bit of time left before his secret admirer, or potential tormenter in the case of Henry Bowers, arrives. He stands in line and asks for a plain iced latte, dropping some change in the tip jar while the server busies himself with his order.

He takes a seat at one of the only empty booths and sips on his coffee, feeling like he might be stood up since it is 10 past one now.

Then the bell chimes and a boy with a red carnation walks in.

Mike’s breath catches in his throat.

“…Stanley?” he breathes, suddenly lightheaded. He feels excited and he feels like he might pass out, all at the same time.

Stan walks over quickly, but to Mike it feels like the world has entered a slow-motion state. He looks nervous, albeit still handsome. He offers the flower to Mike hesitantly, as if he’s afraid he will get rejected (which is just ridiculous – who would ever think to reject Stanley Uris?, Mike thinks).

He takes the flower with a shaking hand.

“I brought this for you,” Stanley explains, taking a seat opposite from Mike. “You gave me one, and I didn’t get it at first but Beverly… helped me understand, what a red carnation means. And what it must have meant to you, to hand me one but another color to her,” he rambles. “Unless this is a misunderstanding, and you were just being nice. And a good friend. Because in that case we can forget any of this ever happened—”

“Stan.” Mike interrupts him before he can go on any longer. “I gave you that flower because I was afraid to tell you how I feel. I didn’t think you’d find out what it meant… and I never meant to make you uncomfortable or anything… I didn’t actually want you to find out.”

An uncomfortable silence stretches between them. Mike fears he has said too much; he’s still partly convinced this is only a prank, that Richie is going to jump out from behind the booth any moment now, and he will be banished from the Loser’s club. Stan looks like he’d rather be anywhere else than here, and Mike feels sorry for him; of course he’d rather be anywhere else.

“Please don’t feel like I’m pressuring you,” Mike speaks up when he can’t take it anymore. “Thank you for the flower, I appreciate it, I really do. But don’t feel like you need to pity me just because I’m… just because I have a crush on you.”

Stan still looks confused, and his silence is more than enough as an answer for Mike.

“I guess…” he stands up. “I guess I’m leaving then.”

He all but bolts out the door, desperate to run from this conversation, run away from Stanley’s confused face, from the look in his eyes. He doesn’t get far before Stan catches up to him, still holding the carnation in one hand, the other grabbing onto Mike’s arm.

“Stop,” he wheezes. “Mike, stop.”

Stanley holds out the flower again.

“I like you too. Mike, I’ve had a crush on you since, like— since I found out what a crush even was.”

Mike would find that hard to believe but Stan… he knows Stan. He knows the man standing in front of him would never deceive him. Never lie to him. They’ve been there for each other ever since they were children, way before Mike started having feelings for Stanley, way before he first thought of him as attractive or beautiful.

But boy, is he beautiful.

As they stand under the rays of the Sun beating down, Stan looks even more gorgeous than normal. Ethereal. His hair is golden and his sun-kissed skin is flushed pink, reminding Mike of all kinds of flowers and none at the same time.

Because at that moment, Stanley Uris is a thousand times more beautiful than any flower.

Mike takes the carnation with a smile.

And he takes a lot more than that.

Days later, he takes Stan’s hand in his own and smiles behind his blush.

Weeks later, he takes Richie’s teasing comments when he finds out his two friends are a couple, and he takes them with pride. He cherishes all the reassurance and acceptance all of their friends offer them – even Richie, in his own weird way.

Months later, he takes Stan on a trip he’s been saving for even before he started working. They go sightseeing and visit restaurants that offer food Mike has never heard of, and at night when they are back in their hotel room, happy and sated and in love, Mike takes everything Stanley offers to him, their bodies and souls united for the first time.

Years later, he takes Stan to an evening out, just like any other date they would normally go on these days. The world is much different now than it was back then – some things changed for the worse and a lot of them for the better. People accept love as it is, for the most part, no matter who your love might be. Gay people have rights now.

Mike’s life has definitely been changed for the better, not only because of the growing acceptance but also because he’s had Stanley at his side the whole time.

They’ve built a life together Mike never wants to let go of, so he plans on taking the step he has been dwelling on for months now. As the main course arrives, he takes Stan’s hand, caressing the back of it with a thumb, and no one around them even bats an eyelash. If they do, well, Mike is too in love to notice them. They carry on their conversation as they normally would throughout the course of the meal, and Stan has no idea there is a box with a ring inside, tucked away securely in Mike’s pocket.

When the time comes to take Stanley Uris as his lawfully wedded husband, he hands Mike a red carnation, just like he did in that café all those years ago, just like Mike did in his backyard even before that. He can hear Beverly crying in the front row, and he can see all his friends’ smiles from the corner of his eye. Even Richie Tozier has found it in himself to shut his mouth for once.

Mike takes the flower with a teary smile and a full heart, and tries not to cry when he says yes.


End file.
